The Values Compass

by Mandeep Rai

Broadcast journalist Mandeep Rai takes us on a journey to 101 countries around the world, highlighting a single, unique value that has defined each nation’s history, culture, and global influence – and how we can apply them to better our own lives and make decisions more effectively.

Every day, whether we acknowledge it or not, we make decisions based on what we believe in. The choices, challenges, or opportunities facing us – and how we engage with them – in politics, family, relationships, work, and play reveal something important about our character, desires, and personality to ourselves and to others. When those values align and are shared by a single population, they have the power to transform a nation and teach the world valuable lessons about success.

In The Values Compass, Mandeep Rai explores this concept by taking 101 distinct countries and identifying a single key value in each that is represented throughout its history, geography, and culture in the hope that we may find a way to incorporate those values into our own lives. From India’s ‘faith’ to Vietnam’s ‘resilience’, Argentina’s ‘passion’ to Singapore’s ‘order’, Australia’s ‘mateship’ to Uganda’s ‘heritage’ and from Malta’s ‘community’ to Sri Lanka’s ‘joy’, we may all find something of ourselves in others and succeed together as a result.

This is an insightful and readable collection of profiles that open our eyes to the world around us, and in turn help us reflect on which values matter, last, and have the power to create change.